Sunday, December 1, 2013

Nightmare on Elm Street 7: Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

For the seventh entry, Wes Craven was brought back into the fold and created the perfect bookend for the series. Personally, this is my favorite of the sequels. Craven was able to capture the terror of Freddy again while giving several nods to fans of the series.

First we'll go to the television station. I've been working on trying to get in here, schedule permitting. It used to be owned by an actual television studio but was bought by the scientologists. They still do productions however. Here are some shots that were the best I could get from the street, more coming soon!

(This apartment can be seen through the gate in some shots.)

(The opposite angle of the shot in the film.)

Screenshots...

Comparison shot...

The production used the real exteriors of New Line Cinema's headquarters at the time....

Screenshots....

Comparison shots....

And we are at Heather's house in the film. Although now the address has been published, I was the first to find it a number of years ago....

Screenshots....

UPDATE June 2014: It's been several years since I was out to the house, so I decided to drop by....

Comparison shots....

According to the commentary on the laserdisc/DVD, Wes Craven said this is the same cemetery as the first Nightmare On Elm Street, which is not true. This cemetery, however, was used in Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. Thankfully to deceased Thomas Bones, I was able to track this spot down...

Screenshots...

Comparison shots....

Some more investigative work to find the "hospital parking garage" but all it took was using some geography to line up the buildings in the background. This is actually the parking garage to a hotel I stayed at...

Screenshots...

Comparison shots....

The production used real earthquake damaged areas, like this bridge here....

Screenshots....

Comparison shots...

One of my favorite moments in the movie is when Heather's house turns into Nancy's house. Production returned to the original location and I was especially proud to see the blue door was back for continuity sake....